Living in the lower calif desert, its just too hot to day ride, so I have been rideing at night. 110+ degrees this time of year. Yet we have a lot of golf courses here that attract wildlife to the area that would not usually be here,,, Like Ducks.
Wall past midnight, and Im trying to work my way home via a winding bikepath next to the main road when my frustration with the aim of my headlight reached its limit. For no other reason, I decided to pull over and take a break in absolute darkness. With nothing on my mind but my own exhaustion, and the thought of my frustration in trying to find the right light set up, and thoughts of a cold beer when I got home, miles away. All this had me focused on my bike. Being an unlit backroad short cut, I could not see anything that was not in front of my headlight. Not another person for miles. My ears were still ringing from the ride as i tried to focus my eyes on my headlamp in the dark, as i pushed the bulb a little bit further back in the housing, hopeing to get more of a beam effect. Suddenly I hear a pannicy quacking right next to me..
It was a large femail mallard from one of the Golf lakes. I began to get my focus in the dark. She was right next to me having what i can only describe as a duck hissy fit. She waddled over to the edge of the curb were i could see her baby chicks lined up in the gutter trying to get off the street. They could not make the leap over the curb. The mother, like me, didnt want to travel in the day, and was moving her babies at night. But once they jumped down on the street to get accross, they could not get up the side of the curb, and were now standing on hot asphalt for god nows how long. I helped them up, one by one, and as i turned to leave, one more began quacking in the distance to let me know, Dont forget me. I found him lost in middle of the street. got him back to mom asap. She led them thrue a near by hedge to the fairway on the other side. I could not get over how if I had not stopped to fix my headlight, what would have happened to them. And at that spot too. not 30 feet sooner or later, but right there. If my light had been working well, or even worse, If the light failed, I could be telling you the tail of my free duck dinner. Hope they are doing well!
Wall past midnight, and Im trying to work my way home via a winding bikepath next to the main road when my frustration with the aim of my headlight reached its limit. For no other reason, I decided to pull over and take a break in absolute darkness. With nothing on my mind but my own exhaustion, and the thought of my frustration in trying to find the right light set up, and thoughts of a cold beer when I got home, miles away. All this had me focused on my bike. Being an unlit backroad short cut, I could not see anything that was not in front of my headlight. Not another person for miles. My ears were still ringing from the ride as i tried to focus my eyes on my headlamp in the dark, as i pushed the bulb a little bit further back in the housing, hopeing to get more of a beam effect. Suddenly I hear a pannicy quacking right next to me..
It was a large femail mallard from one of the Golf lakes. I began to get my focus in the dark. She was right next to me having what i can only describe as a duck hissy fit. She waddled over to the edge of the curb were i could see her baby chicks lined up in the gutter trying to get off the street. They could not make the leap over the curb. The mother, like me, didnt want to travel in the day, and was moving her babies at night. But once they jumped down on the street to get accross, they could not get up the side of the curb, and were now standing on hot asphalt for god nows how long. I helped them up, one by one, and as i turned to leave, one more began quacking in the distance to let me know, Dont forget me. I found him lost in middle of the street. got him back to mom asap. She led them thrue a near by hedge to the fairway on the other side. I could not get over how if I had not stopped to fix my headlight, what would have happened to them. And at that spot too. not 30 feet sooner or later, but right there. If my light had been working well, or even worse, If the light failed, I could be telling you the tail of my free duck dinner. Hope they are doing well!
Later Tramp
